Cirque du Soleil Wants to Start Creating Broadway-Style Musicals

“Cirque du Soleil is looking to diversify its repertoire by expanding into Broadway-style shows and is creating a new division called Cirque du Soleil Theatrical that will be headed by Las Vegas theater impresario Scott Zeiger.” (Their one previous venture into that field didn’t go so well.)

New York City Ballet performs Ivesiana, a 1954 ballet by George Balanchine set to the music of Charles Ives. The soloists are Sara Leland and Francisco Moncion in “Central Park in the Dark,” Suki Schorer ... read more

There was a mimeo magazine called ppHOO69 *Intercontinental*1969. It was edited by Pradip Choudhuri and published by Subhas Ghose, with a front cover by Alejandro Jodorowsky and a back cover by Claude Pélieu. The poems ... read more

What happened to the genre of academic satire? In the Chronicle Review, Andrew Kay has some ideas; I’d like to offer a different take. Disclaimer: I’m no literary critic. But (a) I am an academic, ... read more

In today’s Wall Street Journal drama column, I review Escape to Margaritaville. Here’s an excerpt. * * * The jukebox musical, in which the back catalogue of a songwriter and/or pop star is repurposed as ... read more

The latest episode of Three on the Aisle, the bimonthly podcast in which Peter Marks, Elisabeth Vincentelli, and I talk about theater in America, is now available on line for listening or downloading. In this ... read more

Howard Da Silva sings “Little Tin Box,” a number by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock from the score of Fiorello!. This performance, introduced by Tony Bennett, was seen on Standing Room Only: Showstoppers, originally telecast ... read more

Their recording histories encompass dozens of collaborations, but in their new albums two of the most prolific recording artists in modern music go it alone. Bill Frisell, Music Is (Okeh) Guitarist ... read more

Is Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996) a third Soviet composer to set beside Shostakovich and Prokofiev? An increasing number of musicians seem to think so, including the peerless Latvian-born violinist Gidon Kremer, himself a product of Soviet ... read more

Here’s my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly so) in The Wall Street Journal when they opened. For more ... read more

In today’s Wall Street Journal “Sightings” column, I discuss James Levine’s firing. Here’s an excerpt. * * * It was all true. That’s the conclusion of the Metropolitan Opera, which fired James Levine on Monday, ... read more

The Dave Brubeck Quartet plays “St. Louis Blues” on Belgian TV in 1964. Brubeck is the pianist, Paul Desmond the alto saxophonist, Eugene Wright the bassist, and Joe Morello the drummer: (This is the ... read more